In Rides Nando

There is an old adage that says, “Like father, like son,” and when the father is an iconic sports figure with whom the son shares some similar physical attributes, there is sometimes great expectation that the son will walk in the footsteps of the father. However, while Hernando “Nando” Griffiths has had a strong affinity for riding from his youth, he has never harbored any dreams of duplicating the success of his father – many-times Jamaican champion jockey and a Guinness World Record holder, Winston “Fanna” Griffiths – at the race track. For while Fanna became a Jamaican legend for his exploits at riding horses, Nando appears odds-on to emulate his father’s success, but at riding riddims.

Nando is a young, and upcoming artiste who is already a hit with the ladies with his good looks who has undertaken the firm decision to go main stream hence the sudden surge of promotional activities on the local entertainment scenes. Nando has put three singles in rotation namely; Rude, Say You Wanna and Get Better. Look at All these Girls a fourth track to unleashed very soon which features production from hot young British-based producer Deewaan (Lockdown and Tiki Wine), NY-based James “JimmyGee” Gately (Nasio Fontaine’s Living in the Positive), and veteran reggae musician-producer Barry O’Hare (Burning Spear’s Grammy-award winning Calling Rastafari ) -- Nando stays true to his core reggae roots on tracks such as Say What You Wanna and Get Better, but also branches off into the pop realm on Look at All These Girls and the soca-reggaeton hybrid Rude, giving a glimpse of his vast potential to transcend any limits that one may place on him. It is precisely Nando’s unbounded potential that has O’Hare, who has been working extensively with Shaggy in recent years, so impressed that he has committed to work on at least seven potential tracks for Nando’s debut album. Currently Nando’s track, Rude seems to ignite much excitement among the ladies of course and is a collaboration with fellow artist and friend Paashot, the song is basically a fun song inspired by Ms. Triniti’s and Kartel, Lock Down track, the lyrics, playfully describes Triniti as rude.

FARIN XCHANGE STEPS OUT IN OCHI

From our good friends at Yard Edge(www.yardedge.net)

Farin X Change Launches Debut Album At The Hard Rock Cafe
(Kingston, Jamaica) 3 February 2010 - Emerging reggae band Farin X Change launches its self-titled debut album at the Hard Rock Cafe, Ocho Rios, on Friday February 12th, 2010. The event will feature a pre-show VIP reception followed by a concert showcasing the band itself. The party will continue after the show with the music of Renaissance Disco and admission is free to the public, with gates opening at 8:30 pm.

The album launch also coincides with the grand re-opening of the newly renovated Hard Rock Cafe, featuring a new emphasis on live music and entertainment.

About The Album

The group recorded their ten track debut album, Farin X Change, in 2008 when they realized they had composed a sizable amount of original material and wanted to share their message with audiences beyond their immediate locale. The album was originally scheduled to be released in 2009, but was pushed back to 2010 as they worked to get the mix and the mastering just right.

Farin X Change is available now on the Dream River Productions label in digital stores worldwide. The CD version is available in stores island wide.

About Farin X Change

Farin X Change is led by Richard "Richie" Sinclair (lead guitar, vocals, songwriter) and K. "Junior" Lamey (lead vocals, drums). Sinclair has a long history in reggae music- as a member of the 1980's Jamaican reggae rock band Native (along with Wayne "Native Wayne" Jobson) he toured extensively in the Caribbean, North America, Europe and Japan. Native also released a number of albums to critical acclaim via the band's deal with Arista/Ariola Records. Even before this, however, Sinclair had formed his first band at age thirteen with fellow Knox College student Handel Tucker, whose later success as a musician and producer is well known through his work with stars such as Maxi Priest, Diana King and Sly & Robbie.

Describing Farin X Change as a "spiritual restoration", Sinclair is focused on the message behind the music as much as on the music itself, which he describes as "eclectic and avant-garde conscious reggae". The band sings about interpersonal relationships, social and economic issues, international current affairs, romance, personal quests and introspection. Farin X Change is now based at the idyllic Dream River Studios, nestled in the green hills just outside the town of Port Maria in St. Mary, Jamaica. Much like the band itself, Dream River also possesses a respectable reggae pedigree- it was originally owned by Bob Marley and used as his country studio and retreat.

You can visit the Farin X Change website at www.farinxchange.com

Newsletter

ASSAILANT UPBEAT AFTER UK DEBUT TOUR
Young alliance member, Omar 'Assailant' Thompson returned from a two week tour of the UK earlier this month. The tour stops included Birmingham, London & Brixton. The tour, which lasted for two weeks, kicked off on December 28. Assailant he did six shows in all

On January 2nd Assailant headlined his own show, dubbed “Dirty Money” (one of his singles ) in the Midlands city of Birmingham. The show, by all accounts, was well received. “The crowd sang the said single word for word,” Assailant reports.

The tour was his European debut and was headlined by one of Alliance's frontrunners, Marlon 'Bawse Dawg' Williams, formerly known as 'Bling Dawg'

Commenting on the trip, the artiste said "it was an excellent learning experience. Everything went as planned, except that the weather was way too cold. And since my return, I have been getting a lot more bookings. I’m going to keep building my rapport with audiences and honing the craft so I can move to the next stage as an artiste.”

Assailant is part of the Solid Agency family.

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ON THE RISE

Its easy for an up and coming DJ to get overshadowed with the abundance of talents in what has become a highly competitive Dancehall Industry but 26 year old Fabian Wilson more popularly known as Boom Steppa has no plans of getting caught in that trap. The most peculiar name was given to him by a friend because of how he walks with a rhythm to which he later added the Boom to describe the type of explosive tracks he planned on bring to the mainstream market.

Born and raised in the St. Catherine community of Central Village, Steppa grew up pretty much like any normal youth, enjoying his childhood days but when he turned 15 his focus began to change and music soon became his calling. Starting out writing simple hooks, Steppa spent his days teaching himself the techniques of song-writing and later began to share his creative lyrics with his brother who at the time was a trying DJ. As his content grew, and his mind adapted to that of a recording artist Steppa had developed a style of his own and before he would finish high school was a budding DJ.

Though he understood the importance of school, former student of the Jonathan Grant High Steppa still succumbed to negative influences, and was subsequently expelled. The continued education came in the form of Tivoli Gardens High, were he did his final two years in school, often times taking to the streets in search of recording studios to jump start his career.

In 1998, his chance came as a link brought him to the Black Roots studios of veteran rock steady music icon Sugar Minnott where he recorded his very first single "Ghetto Life" a year later. The opportunity gave the still young Steppa even more confidence in his music and off he went recording for other producers.

As the years passed, Steppa took on the added responsibility of ghost writing for not just any DJ but some of the best in the business. Between 2005 – 2006 he penned "Foreign", "A suh wi do it" on the Gigi riddim, "Love is the only way" and ”Smile” for DJ New Kidz as well as "Thug Love" for Mr Lexx, but it wasn't until Steppa joined forces with the Alliance general Bounty Killer that his name began to resonate in a few circles. Bounty recorded two tracks for the young writer - "Firm & Strong" in 2006 and 2007 "Four Season" hit. That same year he was featured in the Holiday Medley video with Bounty, Vybz Kartel and Bling Dawg on a track called “That’s Who We Are” with Mr Lexx, but soon after had to take a break from recording because he was shot and hospitalize for three months. Steppa however recovered and realized that his own career was essential recording the song "So Much To Me" on the Not Out Riddim In 2007 with a video directed by Robin Chin soon following For PayDay Music he has done "Nuh Bwoy" on the Gangsta Beat Riddim and "Protect Me Please" on the Grung Ghad Riddim, ”protect the children” on the Merge riddim.

Now riding high on the growing success of the single “Naaw Stay Poor” it’s obvious Boom Steppa is destined for great things. A definite one for the future Boom Steppa believe his time to break mainstream is not far away and as such will continue paying his dues. "The future is unpredictable you know but at the same time I'm gonna always work the hardest I can because I wanna take my music to an international level and the ground work is necessary so this is just me looking for the hits to make it happen but I'm not going to rush it I'm just going to do Boom Steppa".


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Profile – SOLID Agency

WHAT DOES YOUR COMPANY DO?

We at Solid Agency consider our selves the one source for entertainment services in Jamaica with a proven track record and global reach, including artiste management booking agency for dancehall and reggae (Shaggy, Bounty Killa, Wayne Marshal, Elephant Man, Freddie McGregor, Marcia Griffiths, Tessanne Chin, Etana, Ding Dong, Morgan Heritage, Mykal Rose, Tami Chynn and Iyaz – the current #1 Billboard artist) even production, artiste & event publicity.

HOW DID IT GET STARTED?
By being the talent scout for Reggae Sunsplash. Through that process, I found that the artistes believed in me and it was easy to form professional bonds with them. Synergy, the producers of Sunsplash, did not want a booking agency, so I decided to make a go of it on my own.. Started in 1982, with Deejay Papa San. From there, I was subsequently able to link with Wyclef Jean, Doug E Fresh, Eve, Heavy D and many others

CORPORATE CULTURE.
International reach – Africa Europe etc. extensive experience with big name acts and major events – Shaggy Foundation lasting partnerships with artiste and corporate from all strata – look at it Sean Paul was once my personal assistant


DESCRIBE YOUR BIGGEST SCOOP
Being event producer of the Shaggy Dare to Care concert venture, which twice in consecutive years now has given over USD300,000 to the benefit of the Bustamante Children’s Hospital, using acts like Macy Gray, Joe Boyz II men

HOW DO YOU STAY RELEVANT?
Keep hiring young bright ambitious people with talent, intelligence and drive, regardless of their socio-economic background – keep ears to ground, maintain high level of energy, FRESH IDEAS, plus I have the benefit of experience, to quickly assess situations and respond in the most appropriate way

WHAT’S THE COOLEST THING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY?
I can pick up the phone and within seconds be talking to lots of people who are influential in their respective aspects of this business, across the world.

IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY
Can work from home, and still maintain contact globally through facilities like SKYPE, Facebook, MySpace; you don’t have to have as much time and capital resources tied up in supporting physical product like on-shelf CDs; you can make decisions and conduct business more quickly without sacrificing efficiency



WHAT ONE THING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN IN THE BUSINESS?

For more of us [Jamaican artistes] to be selling platinum records on a regular basis

WHERE WILL YOU BE IN 10 YEARS TIME?

1. Setting up office ion Africa. We in the Western Hemisphere underestimate the gigantic potential of the African market for Jamaican music.

2. To have a distribution deal as an independent alongside a major record company.



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Jamaica Jazz and Blues Band Quest goes online - JamaicaObserver.com

Link to the Observer story on the Jazz and Blues Band Quest

http://jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Entertainment/html/20091114T180000-0500_163782_OBS_JAMAICA_JAZZ_AND_BLUES_BAND_QUEST_GOES_ONLINE.asp

Rawyal Afrikan Soldiers: The Surge

In an age when much of the utterances of of our entertainers - and our young male entertainers in particular - has disposability almost built in, the re-emergence (one can argue they never really left, but more on that later) of Rawyal Afrikan Soldiers is nothing less than a cause for celebration.


The dub poetry duo (originally a trio, but Takura departed - on amicable terms - to pursue solo interests), comprising Neto and Ginsu have quietly (thus far) but very seriously built up an arsenal of verbal blades and missiles with the intent of subduing and wiping out corruption injustice and other man-made ills and championing the cause of individual liberty within the wider framework of collective good or as famously said centuries ago, "all for one, one for all."

Just one listen to ["The Real] Jamaica Jamaica" which features Ginsu, should confirm that their aim is true. The track, which is now making its away across physical and virtual airwaves worldwide, is a deft and hard-hitting combination of world politics and local issues that lays blame and redeems in equal measure, where it finds it appropriate to do so. How many artistes can convincingly link global human trafficking to the local sex/"exotic dance" industry and make it sound entertaining.

But the surge is not confined merely to the world of sound recordings. Having done a stint at Kingston's Media Technology Institute, Neto has produced the short video "Sharpshootas" which spins a tale of the constricting effects of modern ghetto life on young men, the path many end choosing out of frustration, and the path less taken, which can lead on to better things.

The Soldiers are presently trodding that less-taken path, hewing to their philosophy of "freeing the world with music" even as they develop their attack into broader, multi-media based assault. Live performances, for which they have bee rightly heralded by the media, are also set to resume. The soldiers are also keen to continue in social intervention such as they had the opportunity to do in the troubled Bennett Lane area of Waltham park (partly a subject of "Cruisin on the Waltham")

In between, they are continuing on the "Quest" to be heard above the clatter and to get their diverse yet focussed message to the four corners of the globe. This surge will not spare the guilty, but will uplift and inspire those in need.

Join in or take cover.


** Among the other works in the RAS repertoire are "Dub Story"; "Conspiracy'; "Testiment"; "Everyone's Tears"; "Neva Give Up"; and "Rise or Die". its motto "got to be brave/never be a slave'', have taken a stand in "Jamaica,Jamaica"

Derrick Hinds: Commanding the trombone

He spent over ten years in the military, despite his admission to a problem with authority. "Me always a get inna trouble man, but them still keep me."

Enforced discipline may not have borne fruit, but Derrick Hinds' army stints did leave one very important legacy, or more specifically to polish it: music.
Hinds grew up in Trench Town, and thus was surrounded by music of all types, but the first thing he remembers really having a hold on him was the haunting yet breezy sound of the Skatalites and in particular, troubled trombone genius, Don Drummond.

"Me hear tune like 'Java' and 'Guns of Navarone' and that really get me hook, you know," he reminisces. Though he resolved on a career in music, the demands of survival and the vagaries of life pushed him into the workforce. Hinds worked with Pan Am airways before joining the Defence Force and the Jamaica Military Band. he would later spend time in the UK Royal Military Academy of Music, where he learned composition, scoring and other musical techniques.

But in between those military stints was regular working gigs as a "bandsman." He was part of a band called Conscious Minds, then joined Soul Syndicate, one Jamaica's most storied show bands.

He has the distinction on playing on the classic Jamaican hit " My Jamaican Girl". "From the time we lay down th track everybody know that's a hit," Hinds recalls "From it touch the road, the people latch on to it and never let it go."

That fortune would later repeat itself when Hinds got the call to play on another classic, the Tamlins cover of Randy Newman's "Baltimore" (Newman, for TV fans, is also the composer of the theme for the hit cable series "Monk"). Interestingly, reports are that the group and producers Sly & Robbie were not so much moved by the original, but by a cover version done by no less than Nina Simone (who herself reportedly disdained the version as "filler"). Hinds has also graced the stage of the biggest sporting spectacle, the Super Bowl, having been part of the band that played the famed half Time Show during Super Bowl XXIII in Miami in 1979.

For the last several year, Hinds has been based in the US, but he has a burning desire to resettle in Jamaica and share his knowledge with the present generation of aspiring musicians. He also has a new CD, Message Man, to promote, one which he is proud to say boasts only live instrumentation. "Everything we do is the real organic sound, no drum track, no machine," he says.

If he has his way, Hinds could well find himself at the command of a new generation of Jamaican hornsmen and performers. Its a dream worth fighting for.



016HTB

ROYALE: the "Ragga Romantic"

Canadian-born Jamaican Royden "Royale" Lewis long wanted a career in music and even with the pressures of a "day job" has remained steadily in pursuit of that dream.

It took a another great step forward recently with his return engagement at Christopher's Jazz Cafe, where, in tandem with fellow crooner Stephen McHugh, he laid a welcome diversity of classic R& B, contemporary hits and his now trademark deejay repartee.

Royale is now poised to make the big step onto the International Scene. At first glance, one might not assign him the ability to spit roughneck rhymes in the tradition of a Shaggy or Sean Paul, but once he opens up, and that gravelly baritone kicks in, all doubt is removed, and the ladies in particular, begin to perk up. it doesn't hurt that he is a master of extempo rhymes, often laced with sexual innuendo. All of which serves to counter his more romantic side, with selections from Major Harris and the Manhattans in his repertoire

“This brother is so ersatile. He can deejay (MC), ne can sing, je can singjay ... he just entertains,” says Devonte, a fellow Jamaican Artiste of Tanto Metro and Devonte fame. Currently finishing up his debut album tentatively called No Intro, Royale is hard at work in the studio, as well as juggling the increasing demand for live appearances. Production on the album is done by Andrew “Preggs” Thompson, known drummer for Sean Paul, as well as other Jamaican producers. In addiiton to Tanto & Devonte, Royale has collaborated with the likes of Ward 21, Alozade and Danny English. He also previously recorded singles with the now defunct alternative reggae group Mile High - from which sprang Tessanne - and with jazz musician Harold Davis. Aside form Christopher's live music lovers have caught Royale at Weekends Bistro. Overseas, he has performed at the Wild Hare nightclub in Chicago as well as closing a segment of the morning news hour on WGN TV Superstation in Chicago. Performances in Toronto and Ft. Lauderdale were also well received. All of this seems to be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg for Royale as his debut album should be released later this year. Changing the face and the game of mainstream dancehall is what he plans to do and will have a blast doing so. “People want to hear change and a new sound without losing the authenticity of the music. I know my music does that and that is what will be keeping the masses moving for years to come"

0012RYL